Investigating the Self-sealing of a Healing Agent via a Korean Permeability Test and a Migration Test

Cracks in reinforced concrete are a fast entry point for aggressive substances possibly leading to reinforcement corrosion and concrete deterioration, which leads to a decreased service life and a need for repair. This paper investigates self-healing concrete, which is able to heal the formed cracks. An organic/inorganic hybrid admixture was used in a mortar mix as a healing agent and compared to a reference mortar: The sealing efficiency of the mixture with and without healing agent was compared through a Korean water permeability test on cylindrical specimen. The specimens were cracked in an indirect tensile strength test after which the two halves were tied back together with silicone spacers in order to have a crack width of 300 µm. The results showed that the organic/inorganic hybrid admixture obtained a better sealing efficiency in comparison to the reference mortar. Additionally, a chloride migration test was performed on a different set of reference specimens and specimens with the organic/inorganic hybrid admixture. After 0 and 28 days of healing, the specimens with the hybrid admixture had a significantly lower migration coefficient.